Light In The Darkness

In just a few minutes we are going to invite you to share in a time of communion. So, if you need to gather the elements of juice, bread or a cracker…you can ready those now.

2020 has been a year we would probably just as soon forget! That however, would be a huge mistake. It’s our darkest most difficult moments that shape and define us as individuals and as people, and it’s in our most darkest moments we are able to most clearly see God’s light.

The Jewish people of Isaiah the prophet understood darkness and a whole different level. They had been spiraling down as a culture, ignoring God’s way to live life, and now they find themselves conquered and marching off into Babylonian exile, defeat, lost…in darkness. However, it was in these dark moments that God speaks to his people, and the prophet Isaiah writes these words of hope.

Isaiah 9:1–2 NIV

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

These words point to a future hope, a light that will come in the future to bring light to their darkness…much like the sunlight breaking over the horizon as a new day begins. As the saying goes, it’s always darkest before the dawn.

For almost five hundred years, God’s people waited. They waited, and they waited…and then we read the words of John as he describes the birth of Jesus of Nazareth of Galilee.

John 1:1–5 NIV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Creator who said, “Let there be light” was no breaking into human space as a human to bring a new kind of light. A light to show us the way through sin, evil, guilt, shame, brokenness and hurt.

This Christmas Eve, we remember the darkness, the struggles, the ups and downs of the past year. We remember the financial losses, the personal losses and the family losses. But then we look to the light, the gift of Jesus who gives us hope for tomorrow and shows us how to live today. God thank you for giving us light, to lead us out of our darkness!

We are know going to celebrate that light by sharing in communion. By taking the bread, we remember that Jesus is real. He really did come to us, and he really did die for us. We take the juice to represent the blood he shed…to remind us, that he really does love us…and he really is the light we need in our most darkest of times.

Prayer